European delivery...

Hi Thomas,

Remember that cars made for European markets are different that those shipped to States. Some small differences, but still.

Since Mercedes is very afraid of any call back's they first want to have everything double check. and than bring it to the market.

That's a reason why we can have some MB's faster then you in US.

I really don't know how strict they are over the ocean with checking the car before giving you numbers but if it is as around here the advice would be: DON'T do it. Private import is not so easy as you could hope for (at least around here).

If you want I can check if it is possible to get an American version out here. Let me know.

A lot of luck,

Greetings,

Artur from Holland

You might be happier if you just bought a dealership.

If you are going to do a factory delivery through an MB dealer, you can only purchase vehicles that are spec'ed for sale in the US. The vehicle you get from the factory will be the exact same as what would be shipped over here. The only way to get a non-US model would be to go to Europe and buy through a European dealer, then have the car shipped back to the US and deal with all the red tape of importing a "gray market" vehicle. Actually, it would probably be cheaper just to drive it unregistered and pay the fines.

I did something vaguely similar in 2001, when I collected my UK spec car from Germany. I had ordered it from a dealer in Germany and told them it's going to the UK.

There were/are two issues:

- Amount of options (UK entry-level is higher than in Germany, so less than UK makes it harder to sell in the UK).

- Regulatory issues: the obvious is speedometer in miles. (No, RHD is not madatory). Another is operating manual in English.

You'll have similar considerations for the US.

My reason for doing it was to save money, not to get a model faster.

UK dealers offer a collect-from-the factory scheme whereby they organise temporary number plates, temporary insurance, Channel crossing fare, import prodedure etc. Maybe US dealers do something similar.

I would NOT buy a German spec car and then try to bring it over to the US by myself. It is highly unlikely you will enjoy the experience.

DAS

Factory tours run all the time and are, I think, open to anyone who shows up. Well worth doing.

Main factory collection points are Bremen in the north and Stuttgart in the south. I did Bremen, where some of my car, a CLK cabrio, was built. (Roof and more built at Karmann in Osnabrueck.)

Having been briefed by Merc I told the taxi driver I wanted to pay the special (reduced, of course) fare to the Merc plant. Gritting his teeth he took me the longer-taking way via the suburbs of Bremen, rather than round via the motorway. As I wasn't in a rush I didn't care...

Still trying to arrange a tour of the Karmann plant. At my last opportunity it was closed to visitors for several months because of preparations for the new CLK model. Drat.

DAS

Ditto on that.

I took the tour at Sindelfingen a few years ago, where you are driven through the factory in a small bus. Robots are doing almost all of the repetitive grunt work, picking up stacks of fenders and door panels, and attaching them to the robot-built bodies. Also on the tour were the acres and acres of parked new cars ready for shipment. Most of the people on the tour were picking up a new car. I saw the then not yet officially released SL for the first time in a parking lot there. At the end of the tour, of course, you are invited to the gift shop, where one can buy MB promotional videos and jackets and keychains and ties and books and glassware and teddy-bears and hand towels and scale models and shift knobs, and wallets, and sunglasses.

John M '94 E320 bought a tire pressure gauge

Yes, it's in a bus, except where you get off to look at the assembly line (in Bremen, anyway).

The opportunity to spend money in the knick-knack shop is there all the time, before and after the tour! In Bremen there is a smart cafeteria with free snacks while you wait for your car to turn up. There is a large glass wall on one side with a view into the collection area. Apparently a very high percentage of German customers collect (can't remember the figure but I have this notion it's way above 30%).

In Bremen there is a rather nice exhibition about Merc.

From what I gather Mercedes-Benz has been in the forefront of customer relations in encouraging facory visits and not charging for them. This has been going on for decades and some others are only now catching up.

Even when I did it in Sindelfingen in 1986 it was already very well organised. I turned up from the airport with a large suitcase. At the door this was taken away and I next saw it when it was being placed in the boot of the car I was collecting...

DAS Bought floor mats in 1986 for my then car.